How Fast were McLaren in Qatar 2023 Grand Prix?
Whenever we reflect on the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, there's a lot of chatter about McLaren's performance, with many fans and commentators suggesting they narrowly missed out a win. The final results saw both McLaren cars cross the finish line within a mere six seconds of race leader Max Verstappen, and their driver Piastri, finishing just under five seconds from Max. These numbers tell us they were definitely in the mix for the win, but the real question is — just how quick was McLaren during the race?
The McLaren drivers made impressive progress during the race. Starting sixth and tenth, they both managed to fight their way up the field and finish on the podium. Norris shared after the race that the car was quicker around the Losail circuit than they had expected.
Lap Time Spread of F1 Teams at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix
This chart provides a visual representation of each F1 team's lap time performance during the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. Each coloured 'box' corresponds to a different team and shows the range of lap times they achieved throughout the race. The bottom of the 'whisker' indicates the fastest lap time, while the top shows the slowest. The bottom and top of the box itself represent the faster 25% and slower 25% of the team's laps, respectively. The line across the box is the median lap time, giving a quick insight into the overall pace of the team compared to others.
The fastest single laps are shown by the end of the lower whiskers. Red Bull had the lowest whisker, hence they got the fastest lap (Max). McLaren and Ferrari follow closely for the second and third fastest single laps, respectively.
The box part of each plot shows the middle 50% of each team's lap times, with the bottom edge of the box (the first quartile) representing the faster end of this middle range and the top edge of the box (the third quartile) showing the slower end. The median lap time is the line within the box. A higher median indicates slower average race pace (Alpha Tauri), while a lower median suggests a faster one (McLaren).
Teams with narrow boxes, generally displays consistent lap times during the race, conversely, a team like McLaren has a wider box, showing more variability in their lap times.
Furthermore, the length of the whiskers can give us an idea of the overall variability in pace for each team. Short whiskers indicate consistent performance throughout the race, whereas long whiskers suggest more fluctuation in lap times, which could be influenced by various factors such as tire degradation, fuel load, traffic on track, and pit strategies.
Closing Up
As McLaren has the lowest median indicated by the horizontal line within their box, this suggests that McLaren had the best average pace throughout the race. Their median being the lowest means that over 50% of their lap times were faster than all other teams' median times., suggesting they had a competitive edge in terms of race pace at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.
While McLaren's low median lap time on the graph points to them having an outstanding average race pace at the Qatar Grand Prix, it's important to remember that these numbers don't tell the whole story. Factors such as race strategy come into play, like Max Verstappen potentially managing his pace at the front to preserve his car and tires. Additionally, events like Verstappen's slightly slower pit stop compared to McLaren's record-breaking 1.8-second stop can significantly influence the outcome of the results.
